‘When They See Us’ Director Ava DuVernay Launches Initiative to Bring Attention To Police Brutality

Director Ava Duvernay will be starting the Law Enforcement Accountability Project (LEAP), which will fund 25 projects over the next two years through DuVernay’s Array Alliance nonprofit. The project will start off with a budget of $3 million given by contributors such as Ford Foundation and Ryan Murphey, screenwriter-producer for American Horror Story.

Late last month, DuVernay tweeted a clip of Tye Anders, a 21-year-old black man in Texas, who was terrified of cops after he allegedly ran a stop sign. According to the Washington Post, Anders was lying on the ground in fear and tears, while police officers stood over him with their weapons drawn.

Duvernay’s announcement comes 15 days after George Floyd, an unarmed black man, was killed by Minneapolis police officers using excessive force while detaining him. The video of the tragic incident showed officer Derek Chauvin with his knee of Floyd’s neck for at least 8 minutes, as three others assisted and stood by.

Afterward, the four officers involved in Floyd’s death were fired, and no charges were not brought against them. That was, until, demonstrators nationwide begin protesting justice for the killing of Floyd. The outpouring cry against police brutality led to a Minneapolis DA bringing second-degree murder charges against Chauvin and aiding and abetting second-degree murder charges for the other three cops.

“I’m used to watching racist, violent images,” said DuVernay. “So why did George Floyd’s final moments devastate me like it did? I realized that it was because this time, the cop isn’t hidden behind a body cam or distorted by grainy surveillance video. This time, I can see the cop’s face. As a viewer, there are several times when he even looks right at me.”

She added:

“Then . . . I started to realize how rare that is. And that led me to think, ‘how many of these police officers do we never see?’ They disappear, end up leaving town, and show up in another department. Their names are said, but it’s never amplified, and it’s kind of like this group contract. Somehow, we, as American citizens, have agreed to not speak their names. I do not agree to that anymore.”

While DuVernay says she isn’t ready to reveal what the 25 projects will be, she does note that the first projects will be available to the public in August. Contributors and advocates for the black community are praising DuVernay for her idea and how it can impact Blacks in the future.

“She’s one of the great documentarians and filmmakers in the country and has a sensibility for justice and fairness,” Darren Walker, president of the Ford Foundation, said. “And she has an incredible network and will attract some of the most talented filmmakers and artists in the country.”

Fellow contributor Murphey added:

“The way Ava explained it was so eloquent and made so much sense for me. The time for reform is now. I just think it’s a very, very smart thing to do.”

The idea of LEAP even grabbed the attention of Black Lives Matter, a foundation dedicated to bringing justice, freedom, and healing to Black people across the world.

“Too often, the narrative after an incident of police violence defames the character and past of victimized Black people instead of interrogating the system of policing itself and holding it accountable,” Karissa Lewis, the national field director at the Movement for Black Lives, said in a statement. “It’s about time we trained the camera on those responsible for the intractable brutality in American policing today.”